Plant: Orange Rocket - Barberry
Barberry · Berberis thunbergii 'Orange Rocket'
Size: 1 gal
Light
Bloom
Mature size
More about this plant
An upright Japanese barberry selection grown for coloured foliage, following the species in being a dense, thorny deciduous shrub with alternate simple leaves that colour gold, orange and red burgundy in fall. Small pale yellow flowers hang under the foliage in April and May, followed by glossy bright red berries that persist into winter and draw songbirds. It tolerates clay, loam or sand, drought, heat, salt and urban conditions in full sun to partial shade. Note that Japanese barberry is recorded as an invasive species and the stems are spiny.
- Full Sun
- Grows to 6 ft tall and 6 ft wide
- Blooms in spring
- Hardy in USDA zones 4a-8b
- Deciduous foliage
Plant description
An upright Japanese barberry selection grown for coloured foliage, following the species in being a dense, thorny deciduous shrub with alternate simple leaves that colour gold, orange and red burgundy in fall. Small pale yellow flowers hang under the foliage in April and May, followed by glossy bright red berries that persist into winter and draw songbirds. It tolerates clay, loam or sand, drought, heat, salt and urban conditions in full sun to partial shade. Note that Japanese barberry is recorded as an invasive species and the stems are spiny.
- Flowers
- Small pale yellow flowers about a third to a half inch across in late spring, April to May, borne under the foliage.
- Foliage
- Alternate, simple leaves about half to one and a third inches long.
- Fruit
- Bright, glossy, ellipsoidal red berries that persist into winter.
- Bark & stems
- Numerous angular dark brown stems with slightly curved spines.
- Native range
- Asia (Japan)
